Bowen Byram scored to put the Buffalo Sabres on the board late, but another comeback push fell short in a 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 2 of their first-round series at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.
The series is tied 1-1 with Game 3 set for Thursday night in Boston.
The Sabres controlled play at even strength early but – as was the case in Game 1 – were unable to get an attempt past Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman. The Bruins took control with four straight goals, the last of which came 16 seconds into the third period.
Byram finally put one past Swayman with 6:06 remaining, then Peyton Krebs scored a 6-on-5 goal to cut the deficit to 4-2 a minute later. The quick goals – reminiscent of the Sabres’ furious comeback in Game 1 – prompted Bruins coach Marco Sturm to call timeout, and the Sabres were held off the board from there.
Viktor Arvidsson scored twice for Boston. David Pastrnak had a pair of assists to increase his series-leading point total to five (1+4). Swayman made 32 saves.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 15 saves on 19 shots for Buffalo prior to being pulled in favor of Alex Lyon, who did not allow a goal on seven shots faced. Luukkonen’s night included a tough bounce on a shot from Morgan Geekie, which was taken from beyond the red line but dribbled in past the goaltender.
The Sabres went 0-for-5 on the power play. They’re 0-for-9 with the extra man through two games in the series.
The two teams were assessed a combined 52 penalty minutes during the third period, most of which were the byproduct of a post-whistle scrum after Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov shoved Zach Benson to the ice. The penalties include 10-minute misconducts against Zadorov and Tage Thompson.
